Refrigerator



Oct. 1, 19,46. HT VAN DORYEN 2,408,460

REFR IGERATOR Filed March 50,- 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oa. 1, 1946. H, VAN 'DOREN 2,408,460

R'EFRIGERATOR f Filed March 5o,y 1944 2A sheetssheet 2 Patented ct. 1, 1946 l Harold van Doren,

mesne assignments,

1 vania rfhe present invention "relates'to' refrigerators, and more particularly to improvements in refrigerator cabinets of Vthetype providing upper and lower refrigerated areas and an intermediate age compartments opening above and below such surface, theclosures for such compartments be'- ing constructed and arranged so that they may be opened and closed without necessitating removal of articles occupying f To Athis'end, the invention contemplates the provision of a refrigerator including a worktable "surface and a rearwardly disposed food' storage `compartment extending upwardly from'said surface substantially at right angles thereto land having closure means adapted .for opening and closing movements substantially inthe plane 'of the -front of lthe compartment so that said closure means maybe opened vand closed Without interfering with the use of said work surface.

Other objects and advantages oft theinvention the -worktable suro S OFFICE) Viennent-f Y f Y REFnIGEnAJ'toR Bryn Mawr; Pa., assigner, 'by'- to Philco Corporation', Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation lof Iennsyl will appear to those skilled in thel art front-the y 4following detailed description1cnd the-accomA panying drawings, in which:`A l Fig." 1 is va perspective view/of a refrigerator -cabinet constructed in; accordance withthis invention; 1 l f Fig.`'2 is an enlargedvertical cross-sectional view'cf the cabinet; f Y

Fig, 31`is ra fragmentary cross-sectional detail view looking in the general direction of1line-3e3 of Fig.2; andl .Y

Fig. Liis lanelevational 'detailfviewi of the sliding doors with'parts broken away .tc discloseielements oftheydoor-operating mechanism; With reference to the' drawingsr'the] refrigerator' cabinetV I0 therein illustrated! is of lthe 4.typ'e havinga lowersection II andan upprsection `I2. The lower section .ll,g which1in the present instance constitutes -the base of thecabinet,.;is.

preferably of work-height dimensions So'that'the top thereof, or the, forwardportion thereof, may serve `as a worktable -suriacelb .zgln `theinterior v of the: section VI I. is7 aifood `storage.compartment I4, y.or there may be apluralityv of, such compart- 'sections I'I and tions I1 and vpulleys 22 supported in one'I'I,V may be provided with by moving said section up or the handle, the other "manipulation ofl the stituted as not to interfere with the use of the r when access to said compartment is desired. To this end, the closure means comprises a pair of complementary door VI8 lmounted on'the cabinet for toward andaway from each other in'the'plane of the access opening of said compartment I5 andpreferably perpendicular to the work'surface I3. With this arrangement, opening and closing of the door sections IIv and IB does not necessitate removal of articles Iwhich may have been placed on the worktable surface, nor interrupt theuse of said surface. f In order to facilitate operation of the door sec- -l8 it is desirable that they be counterbalanced and for that purpose cables I9 may Worktable vsurface I3 sliding movement vbe 'connected to the sections, vas shown at 20 and 2I for example, said cables passing over brackets 23 on the cabinetfstructure. The door sections being thus connected, one of said sections, preferably the lower a handle 24,1 so that kdown by means of or upper door section I8 will be made to move in unisonwith, butoppo.- sitely to, the movement of said lower door section both in'opening and closing the compartmentl5.v i lWhen. in closed positionf the door sections I'I andvIS may beheld together by suitable latching means which',11in the form shown in Fig. 4, may consist of la keeper 25 fixed on one door section, anda latch being urged by action cf a spring 21 into operative engagement with said keeper." By mounting the latch 26 on. the door section AI'I whichl carries the handle 24;;ity ispossible,l by handle `24 'to Aunlatch:4 the door sections and initiate movement of:said1sections toward open position. This may be accomplished,bypivotally mountingfthe handletand by latch, these elements being arrangedvso that i :when pressure.: is applied to' .thehandle in aldi- 55 rectio'n tofopen the door' sections;

'the @extension 28 will act through the cam 29 to disengage the latch from the keeper.

The open front of each compartment I4 in the lower or base section I I of the cabinet I is closed by means of a door 30 which preferably is pivoted at its bottom edge portion, as indicated at 3 I, andhas handlemeans 32 1at-itsitop edge por'- tion so that said-.doormay bev drawn outwardly and downwardly to an open position shown in Fig. 1. The door 30 may be provided with wing portions 33 extending into the compartment and preferably having arcuate slots 34 engageable with roller-carrying pins 35 or the like. By this means the outward movement of the `door is limited so that, in open position, the door assumes an angular relationship with respect to the associated compartment and, together with the Wing portions 33, forms a hopper-like access Dort to said compartment.

In the detail construction of the cabinet, I prefer to employ the conventional outer` metallic shell having the general -shape indicated in the drawings, said shell forming the outside of the cabinet Il), and an inner metallic liner 4I to form the compartment I4 in the lower section II of said cabinet. Another metallic liner 42 deiinesthe compartment I5 of said cabinet. The inner liners 4I and 42 may be supported, in the usual manner, in spaced relation to and within the outside shell 40 and may be effectively thermally separated therefrom by means of thermalbreak elements 43, and suitable insulating -material 44 interposed between said liners and shell.

The inner liner 42 which defines the upper compartment I 5 may be provided with a dependingy portion 45 forming a well-type compartment 46 and closed by means of asuitable removable cover as shown at 41. It is to be noted that, in accordance with the present invention, the liners 4I and 42 which respectively define the lower and upper compartments, are separated from each other, 'and that insulating material is interposed therebetween, as represented at 44a in Fig. 2 of the drawings. In this manner the superimposed compartments are thermally insulated from each other so that the compartments may be cooled at diiferent temperatures and .be maintained under different humidity conditions.

As shown in Fig. 2, the door 30 associated with the compartment I4 may have the usual construction consisting of relatively spaced outer and inner panels `48 and 49 respectively; the ,outer panel 4S preferably being made of metal' and the inner panelv 49 of plastic, insulating material 50 filling the `space between said panels.

For the door sections I1 and I8 for the upper v.compartment I5, I prefer to use a transparent structure of the kind commonly known in the trade as Thermopane, which structure Yembodies a plurality offtransparent panes -5I mounted and sealed in a frame 52. In'accordance with the embodiment shown, such door sections are'slidably mounted in suitable channels formed in the cabinet'structure, the lower doorsecti'on I'I being retractable into -ai recess 53 inthe `wall of -the cabinet, and the upper door section-I8 being slidable into and out of engagement with a ledge portion. 54 at theupper front edge of `the .cabinet.

Gasket strips such as shown at 55 may be ary-f ranged on the Vseveral doors to bear against adjoining` portions ofv'the cabinet for sealingathe gaps therebetween when the doors are closed...A

The compartments I4, I5 .fand 45 are to be cooled' by suitable refrigeratin'g means. Prefer- 4 ably a primary refrigerating system is used to cool the compartment I4, and a closed secondary system may be utilized to cool the storage compartment I5 and the well-type compartment 46. 5 In the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, a motor compressor is mounted within a housing 6I in the lowermost portion of the base II and is connected with the condenser 62fthrough a pipe 63. Leading from the condenser 62 is a liquid line 64 which discharges into a series of cooling coils 65 arranged in heat exchange relation with the liner :4I dening the compartment I4. A return line 66 lconnects the series of cooling coils 65 with the motor 'compressor 60 thus completing the circuit bf "the primary refrigerating system. With further Areference to Fig. 2, the secondary system utilized toY cool the compartments I5 and 46 comprises an evaporator portion consisting of a series of coils `61 in heat exchange relation with the back and side Walls of the metallic inner liner 42 deli-ning said compartments. The series of cooling coils 67 communicates with a secondary condenser portion 68 located above said coils and conveniently arranged in heat exchange relation with the primary system, preferably in the return line 66 thereof which, for that purpose, may have a coil section-69 wound about said secondary condenser portion. The association and operation of the primary-secondary system vof the above-described type are well-known in theart and form no part of the present invention, and accordingly, a detailed description of the construction and operation thereof may be dispensed with herein. .Y

However, it is pointed out that in accordance with the present invention, the lower compartment I-4, being cooled by the primary refrigerating system, may be maintained at sharp freezing temperatures vbest suited for theA preservation of 40 frozen foods, and that the upper compartment I5, being cooled by the secondary refrigcrating system, may be kept at the moist-cold temperatures which are most effective for the preservation of ordinary foodstuff. This result is pos- '7 sible in the arrangement herein shown and described' .because the compartments above-referred vto are separate and thermally insulated from each other so that the cooling conditions in one compartment cannot affect, and cannot be af- 50 fected by. the cooling conditions in the other compartment.

In use, it will be appreciated that, because of the particular construction` of and relation between the worktable surface I3 and the various 55 food storage compartments, and with the particular door structures, ready access vmay be had to the compartments Without adversely affecting the utlitynf said worktable surface. :In other words, the doors to said compartments may be opened 60 and closed'freely without necessitating removal of articles occupying said surface.

It is believed that the invention, the mode of 4construction and assembly of its physical embodiment, and its advantages will be readily uni5 derstoodfrom the foregoing description; and it `will be understood that while a preferred embodiment .of the invention hasr been shown and described for illustrative purposes, the structural details are capable of material Variation within `70 the scope of the appended claims. I -I c'lairril i Y '1. In arefrigrator, a cabinet having upper 'and `lower compartments and an intervening insulated 'wall,. said 'upper compartment having aside ac- Acess 4opening and said wall having` a section-of major thickness extending upwardly at the open side of said upper compartment so as to form in the bottom of the latter a well-type chamber, said wall section being recessed from the top, a closure member for the access opening of said upper compartment movable vertically in the cabinet structure to and from an open position within said recess, a primary refrigerating system associated with said lower compartment for cooling the same, and a secondary refrigerating system in heat exchange relation with said primary refrigerating system and associated with said upper compartment for cooling the latter.

2. In a refrigerator, a cabinet having upper and lower compartments and an intervening insulated wall, said compartments having separate side access openings and said wall having a section of major thickness extending upwardly at the open side of said upper compartment so as to form in the bottom of the latter a well-type chamber, said Wall section being recessed from the top, a closure member for the access opening of said upper compartment movable vertically in the cabinet structure to and. from an open position within said recess, a separate movable closure within the upper compartment for the said chamber, closure means for the access opening of said lower compartment movable about a horizontal pivot at the lower edge thereof to open and close said opening, a primary refrigerating system associated with said lower compartment to cool the same, and a secondary refrigerating system in heat exchange relation with said primary refrigerating system and associated with the upper compartment for cooling the said compartment and said chamber.

3. In a refrigerator, a cabinet having upper and and lower compartments and an intervening insulated wall, said upper compartment having a side access opening and said wall having a section of major thickness extending upwardly at the open side of said upper compartment so as to form in the bottom of the latter a well-type chamber, said wall section being recessed from the top, a closure member for the access opening of said upper compartment movable vertically in the cabinet structure to and from an open position within said recess, said insulated wall having a lateral extension from said section of maj or thickness affording a work surface area at the bottom of said upper compartment, a closure for said lower compartment mounted for engagement with the outer end of said wall extension, and refrigerating means operatively associated with said compartments.

HAROLD VAN DOREN. 

